The Harvard women's basketball team has not had an ideal beginning to this 2000-01 season.

Saturday's 79-66 loss to Bucknell (7-1) dropped the Crimson to 1-6 this season. Though the Ivy League season has not yet begun, there is some nervousness brewing in the women's locker room.

In preparation for Bucknell, Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith forced her team to stay late at Lavietes Pavilion after losing to Central Connecticut St., 70-67, on Wednesday.

"You cannot get easier shots than we got," Delaney-Smith said after the loss to the Blue Devils, adding, "if we keep playing like we did today, we will be in for a very long season."

The preparation was not enough to overcome a powerful Bucknell team that handed the Crimson its third straight loss.

But, that might be looking at the glass as half empty. On the other side of the coin, Harvard played Bucknell down to the wire, in a game much closer than the final score indicates.

"The effort and the defense were there, but our shots weren't falling," said freshman forward Tricia Tubridy. "Bucknell is a very good team, and they capitalized on our mistakes."

Bucknell jumped out to an 18-8 lead to begin the game, but Harvard slowly crept back into the contest, cutting the lead to 25-21 with 4:57 remaining in the first half.

The Bison answered with a 14-4 run of their own to end the half, giving Bucknell a 39-26 lead at the break. Bucknell sophomore guard Molly Creamer scored 12 first-half points, six in the last four minutes before the break.

Bison freshman guards Desire Almind and Heidi Helsing pushed Bucknell's lead to 54-36 with 10 minutes remaining in the game with back-to-back three-pointers.

Helsing's three, however, seemed to awaken the Crimson, which furiously charged back with a 12-0 run to cut the lead to six with under four minutes to play. Harvard sophomore center Sarah Johnson was dominant inside, leading the team with 23 points. Freshman Hana Peljto, last week's Ivy League Rookie of the Week, added 12 points and nine rebounds.

"I thought we showed a lot of progress, even though we lost the game," Peljto said. "It was definitely a step forward for us."

Bucknell held off the Crimson down the stretch. Up 71-66 with 52 seconds left, Bucknell tossed in eight unanswered free throws to put the nail in the Crimson's coffin.

"Although the Bucknell game was a loss, it was a good game for our team. It was one of our better games so far," Tubridy said.

Almind led all scorers with a career-high 26 points. Creamer added 25 for the Bison, as the duo combined for 51 of the Bison's 79 total points. Bucknell is now off until a Dec. 29 game at Villanova. Harvard plays Tuesday at 7 p.m. on the road at Rhode Island in what should be another non-league challenge. The squad's Ivy League season does not begin until Jan. 6, when the Crimson takes on Dartmouth.

"I think the teams we are playing right now probably compare to the teams at the top of the Ivy League," Peljto said. "I feel if we learn a lot from these games, we will do well when Ivy League games start."

Though the team's optimism has not wavered, it is indisputable that Harvard is tired of losing.

Nevertheless, there's always a face to look at the bright side.

"We can only go up from here," Peljto said.